Page 39 of A Virgin for the Icy Highlander
“What kind?” Lilian interjected.
“The jealous kind,” Maddie said with a smile. “And I hear they onlygetjealous when they admire you, when theywantyou. So, let us find out one way or the other, for your sake, dear Gracie. This way, you won’t just know what emotions he is capable of—you will have a better idea of the sort of marriage you are actually entering into.”
Resting her hands on her hips, lowering her gaze to the ground, where a thin green weed had sprung up from a crack in the pavement, Grace teetered on the edge of screaming or resigning herself to the rest of this experiment.
The guilt that accompanied the scientific observations had mostly faded, now that Hunter had some idea of what she had been doing. Then again, if he, the subject, knew about the experiment, did that make it null and void? Or was she simply looking at it from the wrong perspective?
Maybe it didn’t matter if Hunter was aware, for she doubted it would change his behavior. He would be himself, regardless of what was sprung upon him.
Indeed, maybe she needed to start thinking of the experiment as something revelatory to herself, rather than to him. A means of figuring out the foundation of their union, before she bound herself to him forever. A means of figuring out what she could and couldn’t accept for her future, if she was being totally honest with herself.
Because if the choice isno better than what Society can offer, then there is little use in agreeing.
She’d been distracted and diverted by his handsome exterior, being rather shallow with her reasoning. Now, with five days left before she had to make her decision, it was time to wade a little further into his depths.
Unwilling to admit it, the kiss and the gentle suction of his mouth on her nipple had already thrown her in waist-high. What was the harm in going up to her neck, so long as she kept her head above water?
If I am going to cause upset in this clan with my Englishness, I need to know that it will be worth the upheaval.
That, if nothing else, brought the words to her lips. “What are you thinking of doing? Having never inspired jealousy in anything or anyone before, I will need your help.”
She wasn’t expecting love, but she didn’t want to be a vessel for heirs and nothing more. Grace longed for a marriage built on trust, respect, and a modicum of affection and care.Thatwas something worth holding onto, and was certainly better than anything London had to offer.
Andthatwas now the real test ahead of her: figuring out if Hunter had made a mistake by kissing her, or if, deep down, he respected and admired her enough to want to protect her. For if she became a target due to this marriage, she would need him to care enough to do what Ailis had mentioned—burning down the world to keep her safe.
This is no longer a matter of a ‘decent’ marriage, but of potential survival…
She needed a wolf, not a kitten.
17
“Did you fare well today?” Grace asked while swirling her glass of spiced wine in what she hoped was a seductive manner.
To add to the lengthening list of her embarrassments, Maddie and Lilian had insisted on practicing her ‘faces’ before the bedchamber mirror. Ellie had been with them, delighting in the game, misjudging it as some kind of competition.
“I can do a worse one!”she’d cried as Grace was doing whatshehad thought was one of her most alluring looks.
Ellie had promptly sat in front of the mirror, hooked her fingers into the corners of her mouth, and pulled them down into a frightening, toad-like curve, while rolling back her eyes and sticking out her tongue. Maddie had laughed so hard she’d had to excuse herself for a minute, while Lilian had sat cross-legged beside Ellie, trying to explain that they were trying to do ‘nice’ faces.
“But Gracie was doin’ silly faces,”the child had protested as Grace had withered inside.
She thought of that moment as she tried again to draw Hunter’s attention, clamping her lips together as a laugh sought to escape. In hindsight, ithadbeen hilarious. There was nothing like the words of a child to humble a person quicker than anything else in the world.
“Did the carts arrive?” Grace asked, still struggling to swallow down a laugh, which might not have been the most appropriate thing to do at that moment.
Hunter barely glanced up from the hushed conversation he’d been having with Thomas since he came down for dinner. “Pardon?”
“I was asking if you fared well today and if the carts arrived where they were needed?” Grace said.
The urge to laugh thankfully abandoned her when it was cooled by the steel in his eyes.
He frowned. “Aye.”
With that, he turned back to Thomas, and the two men mumbled at a volume she couldn’t decipher.
Evidently, it wasn’t a simple matter of “aye,” or he wouldn’t be in such a deep discussion with his brother. Nor would Thomasbe so invested in the conversation; he tended to be the chattier of the two, in Grace’s limited experience. He was less serious during the dinners on their previous nights together.
I practiced those faces for nothing.
